<h2>Name</h2>
<p>
It is derived from the sentence <em>wa tartt kullu ummat- in jathiyat-un</em>
of verse 28, implying thereby that it is the Surah in which the word
<em>jathiyah</em> has occurred.
</p>
<h2>Period of Revelation</h2>
<p>
The period of the revelation of this Surah also has not been mentioned
in any authentic tradition, but its subject matter clearly shows that
it was revealed consecutively after Surah Ad Dukhan. The close
resemblance between the contents of the two Surahs makes them look like
the twin Surahs.
</p>
<h2>Subject Matter and Topics</h2>
<p>
It answers the doubts and objections of the disbelievers of Makkah
about <em>Tauhid</em> and the Hereafter and warns them for their attitude that
they had adopted against the message of the Qur'an. 
</p>
<p>
The discourse
begins with the arguments for <em>Tauhid</em>. In this connection, reference
has been made to the count- less Signs that are found in the world,
from man's own body to the earth and heavens, and it is pointed out
that everywhere around him man finds things which testify to
<em>Tauhid</em> which he refuses to acknowledge. If man sees carefully the
variety of animals, the day and night, the rainfall and the vegetation
thereby, the winds and his own creation, and ponders over them
intelligently, without prejudice, he will find these Signs
sufficiently convincing of the truth that this universe is not Godless,
nor under the control of many gods, but it has been created by One God,
and He alone is its Controller and Ruler. However, the case of the
person who is determined not to acknowledge and wants to remain
involved in doubts and suspicions is different. He cannot be blessed
with the faith and conviction from anywhere in the world. 
</p>
<p>
A little
below, in the beginning of the second section, it has been reiterated
that the things man is exploiting in the world, and the countless
forces and agencies that are serving his interests in the universe,
did not come into being just accidentally, nor have they been provided
by the gods and goddesses, but it is One God alone, Who has supplied
and subjected these to him from Himself. If only a person uses his
mind properly and rightly, his own intellect will proclaim that God
alone is man's real Benefactor and He alone deserves that man should
pay obeisance to Him. 
</p>
<p>
After this, the disbelievers of Makkah have been
taken to task and reproved for their stubbornness, arrogance, mockery
and insistence on disbelief with which they were resisting the
invitation of the Qur'an they have been warned that this Qur'an has
brought the same blessing which had been granted to the children of
Israel before, by virtue of which they became distinguished above all
the people of the world. Then, when they failed to recognize the true
worth of this blessing and disputed their religion and lost it, this
blessing now has been sent to them. This is such a code of guidance
which shows the clear highway of Religion to man. The people who would
turn it down by their own folly, would only prepare for their own doom,
and only such people would become worthy of God's succour and mercy
who would adopt obedience to it and lead a life of piety and
righteousness. 
</p>
<p>
In this connection, the followers of the Holy Prophet
have been instructed that they should forbear and pardon the absurd
and foolish behavior towards them of the people fearless of God, for
if they showed patience God Himself would deal with their opponents
and would reward them for their fortitude. 
</p>
<p>
Then, there is a criticism
of the erroneous ideas that the disbelievers hold about the Hereafter.
They said that life was only this worldly life there was no life
hereafter. Man dies in the course of time just as a watch stops
functioning suddenly. The body is not survived by any soul, which
might be seized and then breathed again into the human body some time
in the future. In this regard, they challenged the Holy Prophet,
saying: "If you lay a claim to this, then raise our dead forefathers
back to life." In answer to this, Allah has given the following
arguments:
</p>
<p>
<OL>
<LI> "You do not say this on the basis of any knowledge but
are uttering this grave thing on the basis of conjecture. Do you
really have the knowledge that there is no other life after death, and
the souls are not seized but are annihilated?" 
</p>
<p>
<LI> "Your this claim
rests mainly on this that you have not seen any dead person rising
back to life and returning to the world. Is this basis strong enough
for a person to make a claim that the dead people will never rise to
life?When you do not experience and observe a thing, does it mean that
you have the knowledge that it does not exist at all? 
</p>
<p>
<LI> It is
utterly against reason and justice that the good and the bad, the
obedient and the disobedient, the oppressor and the oppressed, should
be made equal ultimately. Neither a good act should bear a good result
nor an evil act an evil result; neither the grievances of the
oppressed be redressed nor the oppressor be punished, but everyone
should meet with the same fate ultimately. Whoever has formed this
view about the universe of God, has formed a patently wrong view. The
unjust and wicked people adopt this view because they do not want to
face the evil results of their deeds, but this world of God is not a
lawless kingdom; it is rather a system based on the Truth, in which
there can be no question of the injustice of regarding the good and
the bad as equal. 
</p>
<p>
<LI> That the creed of the denial of the Hereafter is
highly destructive of morals. This is adopted only by such people as
are the slaves of their lusts, and for the reason that they should
have full freedom to serve their lusts. Then, when they have adopted
this creed, it goes on making them more and more perverse till at last
their moral sense becomes dead and all avenues of guidance are closed
against them. 
</p>
</OL>
<p>
After giving these arguments Allah says most
emphatically: "Just as you did not become living of your own accord,
but became living by Our power, so you do not die of your own accord,
but die when We send death on you. And a time is certainly coming when
you will all be gathered together. If you do not believe in this
because of your ignorance and folly today, you may not; when the time
arrives, you will see for yourself that you are present before your
God and your whole book of conduct is ready accurately, which bears
evidence against each of your misdeeds. Then you will come to know how
dearly has your denial of the Hereafter and your mockery of it cost
you."
</p>

